Bail
by justanoutlaw
Summary: "I'm only here to establish an alibi."
1. Chapter 1

_Prompted by bauerfanstraten: Star Swan; "I'm only here to establish an alibi."_

Emma woke up to sudden knocking at her door. Rolling out of bed, she threw on her robe and stumbled down the stairs, throwing the door open. The last person she expected to see was her ex-girlfriend, Lily. She raised an eyebrow, rubbing furiously at her eyes.

"Lily? What are you doing here?" She asked.

"I'm only here to establish an alibi," Lily replied, pushing her way in, shrugging off her oversized parka.

Emma let out a groan. "What did you do now?"

Throughout their entire relationship, Lily had been getting into trouble and constantly asking Emma to bail her out, if the latter wasn't already involved in the process. When Lily was sent off to juvie, she assumed it was the end of things. Apparently not. Lily was just lucky that Mary Margaret and David were out of town visiting friends.

"I was seeing this guy." Lily rolled her eyes. "Big mistake, a fucking douchebag if I've ever seen one."

"You never did pick right."

"I picked you, didn't I?"

Emma shifted uncomfortably. "Douchey guy, go on."

"Anyway, we broke up but I realized I forgot my necklace in my house." She frowned. "You know how much that thing means to me. It's all I have left…"

"Of your father," Emma whispered. The death of Lily's dad had been almost too much for her to bare and had caused the downward spiral she was on.

"Yeah. So, I tried asking him to get it back, but he never let me. Claimed he didn't have it. So, I waited until I knew he'd be out and snuck into his house to grab it."

Emma had a feeling this wasn't going to end well. "Lil…"

"I found it in his room, like I knew I would. I was almost in the clear, but then I got carried away. I started fucking with his stuff, swirling his toothbrush in the toilet. I didn't realize how much time was passing and then his car pulled up."

"Oh geez."

"I hopped out the window and high tailed it out of there, but I felt like I was being followed."

"So you came here."

"You're the sheriff's daughter. Everyone will believe you, say we're having a sleepover or something."

Emma bit her lip. She had swore she was done helping Lily, but it was a lot harder looking into those big green eyes and saying no. "What does your mom think?"

"That I'm spending the night here…"

"Have I always been your alibi?"

"For her. Come on, I know your parents are out, their car's not here."

Emma considered it for a bit. She knew Lily was right. If Graham showed up, he'd believe her and Lily could avoid ending up in juvie yet again.

"Alright," she said with a sigh.

Lily beamed. "Really?"

"Just this once. Next time, you're on your own. Let's just get to my room."

Lily followed her up the stairs and the two collapsed onto her bed. "How have you been?"

"Surviving."

"I thought about writing you from the inside…didn't know what to say."

"You've been out for a while."

There were a few beats of silence. "I missed you."

"Yeah."

"You didn't miss me?"

"Did I miss constantly getting in trouble because of you? No."

Another beat of silence and then Emma smiled to herself.

"But yeah…I did miss you."


	2. Chapter 2

_Prompted by bauerfanstraten. ("I love you so much, I forgot what hating myself felt like.")_

Emma woke up the next morning, surprised to still find Lily laying beside her. She didn't understand why she was still there, surely the cops weren't going to be suspicious of her anymore. Even so, she went downstairs and threw together some breakfast. She was hardly a cook, her mother liked to joke that she caught onto her father's talents in that department. Instead, she put some pop tarts into the toaster, trying to ignore the memories that crept into her brain.

They were the first things that Emma and Lily had stolen together. They were at the store, no money, just looking around and goofing off. Then, Emma spotted the pop tarts and wanted them. Lily snuck them off the shelf and stuffed them into her sweatshirt. Together, they took off out of the store, snickering the whole way. When they reached the park, they enjoyed their snack together, talking about their lives.

Lily had been through so much, losing her father really took a toll on her. Emma understood why she was acting out, even if no one else did. That was the first time that Lily had expressed her love for Emma.

" _I love you so much, I forget what hating myself felt like."_

It made Emma feel special, one of a kind. She had been able to help heal Lily.

Then she went away. She could still remember that night, coming home from Regina's and her parents sitting her down. They looked sad for her, while also clearly disappointed in the girl they had practically helped raise.

 _"Emma, Lily got busted stealing a car," Mary Margaret said._

 _Emma had rolled her eyes and scoffed. This was nothing new for her. "How long is she grounded for?"_

 _David's eyes shifted from his wife to his daughter. "It's not like that this time, Princess. The person is pressing charges. Lily could be going away for a long time."_

Having a lawyer for a mother had come in handy and Lily got off with a few months in juvie. Emma hadn't asked her about it, she was sure it wasn't easy. When she had loaned Lily a pair of pajamas, she had seen a scar on her back that wasn't there before.

She wanted to blame Lily, say it was her fault for ending up there…but she couldn't.

"What are you doing?"

Emma spun around at the sound of her ex's voice. "I was just making you some breakfast."

Lily softly smiled. "Pop tarts."

"Chocolate, your favorite." She slid the plate over to her. "You ready to talk about it yet?"

Lily bit her lip, shaking her head. "No."

"Maybe someday?"

"Are you saying there's a someday? You really think your parents would let you see me again?"

Emma shrugged. "I've always been very persuasive." She chewed on her lip. "You said last night you were going to write, but never did. Why didn't you call me when you got out?"

Lily picked at the burnt side of her pastry. "I was scared."

"Scared?"

"Scared that'd you tell me that you didn't love me anymore. It was easy to pretend like we never happened, or so I thought."

"I never stopped loving you."

Lily looked up at her, her eyebrow raising a bit. "You didn't?"

Emma shook her head, stepping closer. She pushed a strand of her tangled hair out of her face. Lily's breath hitched and Emma gave her a small smile. Their lips brushed against each other, causing Lily to drop the pop tart.


End file.
